Deer were frolicking in the snow on my way to the Huntsman Center on Tuesday night.
One looked straight at me, but didn’t seem frightened of a columnist lugging a heavy laptop bag and coughing into his sleeve. I smiled8212;it was a peaceful moment.
It would also be the last moment of peace the rest of the night.
The Huntsman Center8212;usually as exciting as a graveyard8212;was loud enough to wake the dead at 8 p.m. Senior center Luke Nevill scored a career-high 32 points, shooting 10-for-12 from the field and 12-for-14 from the line to lead the Utes to an overtime victory.
Although the game was hard-fought the entire way, BYU looked like a deer in the headlights in overtime8212;allowing senior Tyler Kepkay to drive his way to 10 overtime points.
At one moment late in the game, Luka Drca, who’d demonized the Cougars all night, grabbed Kepkay and kissed him on the cheek after an acrobatic, twisting-and-turning layup by the Canadian that resulted in the hoop plus the foul. After watching two straight impressive Kepkay layups, every last Ute fan would have puckered up.
It was a game the Utes didn’t just win. It was a game they desperately needed to win. A loss would have been the turning point of the entire season. With such a close race in the Mountain West Conference, Utah’s tournament life was on the verge of being buried under the hardwood.
For the first time since 2006, they were able to dig themselves out.
There were a hundred stories in 45 minutes. Drca also scored a career-high 18, filling up the stat line with nine assists and eight boards along the way.
Then there was Nevill. In his nonchalant way, he was the catalyst in a game that will go down as a classic.
Memo to BYU coach Dave Rose8212;you should consider having your players double-team Nevill. If you don’t, he will likely make every shot.
Well, every shot but two.
The story of the night, though8212;the happily-ever-after tale the Crimson Club can tell their kids as they tuck them in tonight8212;is that of head coach Jim Boylen. To be considered successful in this hallowed sphere, you must beat BYU. It was the one thing he had not done, his final hill to climb into our hearts.
As Kepkay stepped to the line one last time to seal the win, Boylen was grinning from ear to ear. With the game decided, he was still crouching in the same spot he always does, yelling at his team to get down the floor after the shot went up.
It was his finest moment as a head coach.
No matter what happens the rest of the season, this victory will not be tarnished.
I left the Huntsman Center lighter on my feet. My cough was gone, and so were the deer. I imagine they finally had the energy to wander after the storm blew away the valley inversion.
It seems fitting. The Utes’ season is starting to clear up, too.
Nick Pappas